Luxurious island stay Anahita Golf & Spa Resortâ€‹, on Mauritius’ east coast, has suites and villas with full kitchens and private pools, secluded among acres of palm-tree-packing terrain, just a shimmy from the beach-blessed coast. Infinity-edged pools, a boathouse and lagoon offer all-age aquatic adventuring and tennis courts, a spa and golf green for landlubbers.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A 30-minute massage each for guests staying five nights or more

Facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Ninety-eight, including 70 suites and 28 villas.

Check–Out

Noon; guests are charged 50 per cent of the room rate for late check-out. Earliest check-in, 2pm. Early arrivals can drop their bags at reception and unwind in another suite or villa if there’s one available.

Also

For special occasions (or a family night in) you can summon a chef to your suite or villa to cook a meal or set up a barbecue. If you fancy knocking a few balls around and need a golf cart, the Anahita golf course charges RS500 for each golfer for 18 holes, and RS300 for 9 holes. A golf club caddy is available for RS200 a person. At the Ile aux Cerfs golf course, it's RS990 per golfer for 18 or 9 holes, and RS450 for a golf club caddy. If you're a newbie, an hour of free golf initiation is offered daily at 3pm.

Our favourite rooms

All suites and villas have large fully-fitted kitchens, spacious gathering-sized living rooms, and private plunge pools.

Poolside

There are three. Two outdoor infinity pools – one for adults, which is heated year-round, and one for children, which is heated during the winter – sit side by side in the village, surrounded by rattan sunloungers, palm trees and parasols, with alluring turquoise-tinted views of the Indian Ocean beyond. A beach-like slope allows easy access to the curved and crystal-clear kids’ pool; however, there’s no supervision. The kids’ club also has a shallow unheated pool for infants.

Spa

The fitness centre has large windows, so gym bunnies can gaze at the greenery during a workout. Outdoor treatment rooms have gentle ocean breezes and lush tropical foliage – many of the plants are used in the treatments – to send you into an island-scented reverie (or a more secluded session can be booked in your suite or villa). Thalgo facials, body wraps and scrubs, massages, couples treatments, waxing, manicures and pedicures are all offered, but Juniors can join in too, with massages for kids tweens and teens (30 minutes for 3–6 year olds, 45 minutes for 7–12 year olds and 60 minutes for over-12s).

Packing tips

Also

There’s no wheelchair-accessible accommodation onsite. Pushchairs and buggies can be pushed around public areas problem-free, but there are some steps from the reception to the pool area where obliging staff are happy to help.

Children

Cots are free for under-threes; extra beds for under-12s can be added to Prestige Suites on request. Entrance to the kids club is included (meals are chargeable), babysitting is available and kids are welcome in the restaurants.

Overview

Under-threes stay in cots free; extra beds for under-12s can be added to Prestige Suites for an extra charge (prices vary depending on the season).

Recommended rooms

Children can stay in all room types. Three-, Four- and Five-Bedroom Villas are ideal for larger families, and villas even come with a family butler, to give parents some well-earned R'n'R.

Activities

This resort delivers family entertainment in an all-singing, all-dancing fashion; splash and sunbathe on the beach or glide through the infinity swimming pools, while gazing at the ocean. Guests can brush up their game on the golf course or the tennis courts, or take in the view from the gym's large windows; alternatively, browsing the boutiques in the resort’s village and time in the beauty salon and spa provide a less pulse-pumping way to pass the time. When you tire of landlubbing, head to the resort's boathouse – an aquatic toy box of sea-faring vessels – to windsurf or sail over the sea. Set a short walk from the villas, tucked away from the beach, the kids' club, OurSpace, is thatch-roofed and friendly. There's a safely sandy-floored outdoor space, perked up with large parasols, an astroturf playground and teeny tables and chairs, with a shallow unheated children's pool; the building also has ramp access. Internationally accredited staff have been trained and managed by a reputable external company; 4–12 year olds attend for free and sessions for children aged eight months to four cost £10 an hour or £50 for a full day (meals not included). Parents can stay to play or bow out and bliss out as they choose. The clubhouse has an indoor baby room with toys, books, puzzles, a baby gym, push bikes, bouncy chair, dressing-up boxes, Lego and a specially adapted bathroom. There's a well-considered range of activities: children aged 3–5 bake (cakes, pizza and cookies), make bubbles and flags, build sandcastles, watch movies, learn about local nature with butterfly-spotting, crab-hunting, and learn Mauritian dancing. Children aged 6–8 become pirates for the day, ride glass-bottomed and banana boats, cook, try henna tattoos and hair braiding, hunt crabs, decorate t-shirts and play golf. Children aged 9–13 have a more spirited schedule, with kayaking, water-skiing, fishing, tennis, bocci ball, an introduction to diving and pedal-boat riding (alongside baking, t-shirt painting and treasure hunts). The teens' club, Escape (for ages 13–18), has TVs and a DVD player, board games, a Wii console and dance mat. Activities include ping-pong, bike tours, tennis and watersports (kayaking and snorkelling), bike tours, tennis, Frisbee tournaments and trips to Île aux Cerfs; in high season, it becomes the teen social hub of the resort by night, when its turned into a disco until 11pm.

Swimming pool

A beach-like slope allows easy access to the curved and crystal-clear kids’ pool; however, there’s no supervision. The kids’ club also has a shallow unheated pool for infants, and swimming aids and swim nappies are on hand.

Meals

Children can take lunch and dinner in the OurSpace kids' club, but mini Smiths are welcome in the resort's restaurants. Each serves a parent-pleasing kids' menu of healthy and imaginative meals, including salads and fruit plates, stir-fries, omelettes and curries. Lunch with your little ones in Bliss, where oven-baked pizzas and home-made ice cream can be eaten by the pools or beach, or in the shade of a thatched roof if the sun is scorching. Children are also welcome in Il Forno, but the stone floors and outdoor firepit make for watchful meals with tearaway toddlers. A bombastic buffet breakfast is served at Origine, and a menu replete with pastries and sweets make the easygoing VU bar or Sugar and Savour Café the ideal stop off for family afternoon tea. Wherever you choose to dine, staff are on the ball, whipping up home-made purées, heating up baby food and milk and readying themselves with highchairs, booster seats, bibs, beakers/feeder cups, weaning spoons and kids' cutlery as needed.

Babysitting

Available for ₨500 an hour from 7am to 6pm, ₨600 an hour from 6pm to midnight, and ₨700 after midnight; prices are subject to change and exclude the mandatory taxi charge (₨700-800). Give at least one day's notice (earlier in high season, if possible).

No need to pack

Also

Pack high-factor sunscreen, insect repellent and the kids’ sunhats in your suitcase: the resort is well shaded, but you’ll clock up plenty of beach time. To keep milk and snacks chilled on the beach, double up a mini cooler bag as a vanity case. If you can't take the heat, both children (aged 3–12) and parents can enjoy a range of gentle yet indulgent in-room massages. Send a shopping list to the hotel before you arrive and staff will stock your suite or villa kitchen with goodies (please note that there is a 15 per cent service charge).

Eco&dash;friendly

All food is locally sourced, the hotel composts waste to use on the surrounding land, and grey water is filtered and used in keeping the golf course green.

Food and Drink

Top Table

A table on the terrace at Origine, overlooking the ocean.

Dress Code

No shorts or flip-flops at dinner in either restaurant.

Hotel restaurant

The hotel has two restaurants, as well as a café and sweet shop, Sugar and Savour, which serves light meals and Mauritian treats. The main restaurant Origine has a glossy white bar, crazy-paving walls and reef-hued furnishings. It’s ideal for breakfasts; the buffet has a juice bar and a chef who’ll whip up pancakes and omelettes to your whim, while the à la carte menu has champagne cocktails and eggs benedict alongside Mauritian specialities. Signature has a locally influenced menu, served in elegant surroundings overlooking the jetty. The thatched Il Forno Restaurant overlooks the 18th hole, and tables spill out onto a parasol-dotted, fire pit-lit garden. This à la carte trattoria restaurant serves traditional Italian dishes and a selection of wines to pair with your meal. Bliss is a casual beachfront eatery with sandy floors and a seriously laid-back ambience, perfect for barefoot post-swim refuelling; it’s open for lunch (and serves daily themed buffets for dinner), and if you don't want to leave your sunbathing spot waiters will ferry drinks, salads and sandwiches to the pools or beach as desired. Located 15 minutes from the main hotel, Domaine de l'Etoile is a laidback, open-air restauarant serving Mauritian cuisine: their speciality is braised wild boar with noodles and tom pouce leaves. They also offer light snacks and meals to-go of you're on the move.

Hotel bar

The VU Bar has views of the lagoon and Île aux Cerfs, which you can gaze at from a rattan easy chair among designer-Temple of Doom-style decor. A selection of international snacks and drinks is served all day.

Room service

Available 24 hours a day. Start with breakfast in bed from 7.30am to 10.30am, order from the elegant à la carte menu from 7.30am to 10.30pm, and snack on paninis, burgers and desserts from 11pm to 7am.

Location

Address

Anahita Golf & Spa Resort

Anahita The Resort
Beau Champ

Beau Champ

GRSE

Mauritius

Anahita Golf & Spa Resort sits along a serpentine stretch of the island’s tranquil east coast – facing the Indian Ocean, a short ferry ride from Île aux Cerfs – among 213 beach-fringed hectares by a rolling sea-view golf course.

Planes

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (www.ssr-international.co.uk) is just under an hour’s drive from the hotel. Air Mauritius and British Airways offer direct flights, or transatlantic flights connect from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport; flights across the Pacific arrive via Dubai International Airport or Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport. The resort can arrange transfers from the airport: €55 a one-way trip for four guests, or €120 a one-way trip for a luxury car).

Automobiles

There’s one highway on the island, which runs from Grand Baie in the north to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in the south. Narrow and winding roads can make driving a nail-biting affair and taxis are recommended, but there are car-hire booths at the airport and there’s free parking at the hotel if you wish to chauffeur yourself.

Other

Passenger ships, the Mauritius Pride and the Trochetia (www.mauritiusshipping.intnet.mu) run a fortnightly service between Mauritius and Réunion. The hotel can also arrange helicopter transfers from the airport.

Worth getting out of bed for

You’ll drift towards the beach for a dip in the blue lagoon or the pool, but there’s much more on offer: try water-skiing, kayaking, windsurfing, and a variety of bobbing vessels (kayaks, hobbie cats, fun boats, lasers, windsurfing boards and snorkelling equipment are all free to hire). There's also a PADI diving centre. Back on land, golf-green fees, buggies, a GPS system and practice balls are free, as is hiring the tennis court or playing a spot of table tennis. Mountain bikes can be borrowed and reception can advise on the best routes through the resort. Get those glutes working in the high-tech gym; alternatively, give up pulse-pumping in favour of browsing the boutiques in the resort’s village and taking some time in the beauty salon and spa.

This resort delivers family entertainment in an all-singing, all-dancing fashion: the kids’ club and teens’ club are hip hideouts with action-packed activity programmes or children can play at being bijou Buccaneers in the acres of exploration-enticing gardens and greenery.

Reviews

Anonymous review

Our four-bedroom villa didn’t just lay on views over golfing greens across to the forest and lagoon, but our evening entertainment included watching fruit bats the size of Frisbees swoop over our villa and into the trees. The tropical grounds are gorgeous in every direction – Four Seasons’ golf course overlaps with Anahita Golf & Spa Resort (lunch or dinner at the Four Seasons is but a short shuttle away if you fancy a change of scene; the hotels work closely with each other so you can even put your food there on your Anahita bill). Even with golf buggies on call, we barely needed to stray thanks to our own pool perfect for a wallow and a generous grassy area suited to a kickabout. Anahita also has a better beach and setting than its five-star neighbour. But the real highlight? Being spoilt rotten by our own private butler. Every morning on the terrace, Sharma prepared eggs any way we liked, provided too many pastries and the best pineapple we’ve ever tasted, and nothing was ever too much trouble. We decided Sharma was blessed with an extra-smiley gene – along with nearly all the staff. But I guess when you look at Anahita’s east coast location, what’s not to smile about?

Our nippers certainly grinned widest after a fishing trip in the small quay. Or maybe it was when Tom got to watch his dad’s face as a speedboat pulled them on a blow-up rubber ring that looked as though it was travelling at 100mph. Or it could have been when we discovered that the giant tortoises the size of Spacehoppers love pineapple and papaya so much they can hit quite a speed when it’s being dangled.

My final bit of intel? Ignore weather forecasts for February half-term. We nearly didn’t get on the plane looking at the British weatherman’s icons: but every day was glorious despite a few quick tropical downpours.

The Guestbook

Whenever you book a stay at a Smith hotel or villa, we’ll invite you to review it when you get back. Read what other Smith members had to say in Anahita Golf & Spa Resort’s Guestbook below.

We loved

The staff who were so friendly, great facilities from kids club, to the spa, to watersports, to the amazing beach. Loved the overall vibe: luxurious yet not pretentious.

Don’t expect

The most luxurious hotel in Mauritius – i'ts very much a 5-star hotel, but not a Four Seasons. But it has a better character and vibe.